I’ll admit it – I was one of those people who were turned off of Cougar Town because of its name. I’ve been a fan of Bill Lawrence’s since his Spin City days, but with Cougar Town I only had watched a few episodes here and there, never regularly.

Then I started hearing more about it – first it was with ABC keeping it off the fall schedule, then it was with them reducing its episode order, and then finally still not setting a mid-season return date. This was not necessarily good publicity, but it did make me intrigued and curious about this show. I knew Community’s Abed loved it, so why couldn’t I too?

Cougar Town boss Lawrence wanted to keep the series top of mind for viewers, and provide a thank you to those who waited patiently for its return. He announced a series of non-ABC sanctioned fan-appreciation events to be held across the country paid for by him and with each event featuring at least one cast member and one writer.

Events were scheduled for cities where cast members and writers were likely to be over the holidays, and one even took place near my hometown in Louisville, Kentucky (cast member Josh Hopkins is from Lexington). Since I didn’t travel to Kentucky for the holidays this year, my only chance to attend was here in Los Angeles, and luckily enough I did get invited to the Jan. 12 event held where the show is filmed, at the Culver Studios.

Jules' real estate office at the Cougar Town set in Culver City, Calif.

Wow, what an experience. It was more than I ever could have expected – the cast (minus one) and writers were there, and Bill Lawrence wandered around the crowd introducing himself and letting everyone know they could ask him anything.

If I had to give a quick synopsis of the event, it would be this: free booze, penny can, open access, never-ending smile. (And I won penny can three times…but kept getting scolded because I forgot to actually say it when I did).

Bill Lawrence plays penny can with Cougar Town fans at the Jan. 12 fan appreciation event

As we played penny can I asked how he got started in Hollywood. His answer – came here at 21, started painting houses during the day and writing whenever he could. Again during the Q&A when someone asked about his writing process he gave the advice to write every day even if you thought it was going nowhere. Basically, he said there are those who say they write and there are those that actually write. You have to be in the latter category. So simple, yet also a needed kick in the butt for me to follow that.

The cast (minus Busy Phillips who was preparing for the Golden Globes) was there mingling with fans too, and Lawrence kept telling those of us talking to him to talk to them too, to not be intimidated. It wasn’t that I was scared to talk to the likes of Brian Van Holt, Dan Byrd, Josh Hopkins and others, and I did much later, but I was in the presence of a comedy writing icon and I didn’t want to leave that.

Next there was a question & answer session followed by cast-led tours of the sets & studio. During the q&a session there was a lot of talk about Cougar Town’s longevity once it returns, and though there has been understandable frustration at not being on before now this season, there is confidence that the show will continue on for many more seasons after this one. They also talked about the title, and though Lawrence apologized for being the one to come up with it, they said that it was not changing and they were just going to embrace how awful it was.

We then moved on to the tour, and we were split up into groups of about 10 – 15 each and led around by a cast member. Our tour guide, Brian Van Holt (Travis), led us first straight to the bar where he did rum shots with those who were in the front with him. In addition to being personable and knowledgable, he also dropped a $20 into the bar tip jar and told us we were covered.

At some point our tour group led by Brian Van Holt merged with the tour group led by Dan Byrd.

Seeing the sets where the cul-de-sac crew “live” was cool, but for me nothing compared to the fantastic opportunity to visit the Cougar Town writers’ room. I had a great conversation with one of the writers, Mary Fitzgerald, about how she got started in the business and how Cougar Town is one of the few shows to have a decent male/female writer staff split.

We visited the Cougar Town writers' room, which was one big white board with ideas and storyboards of upcoming shows.

After the excitement of meeting the cast and crew, and visiting the sets and writers’ room, we had a chance to view two upcoming episodes from Season 3 while sitting along the “streets” of Gulfhaven, Florida. And I have to say, that even though I had never watched Cougar Town much before, my husband and I are now CT converts and these two new fans are now waiting along with those of you who have known about this great show longer for their return to television. And, thanks to the free bar at the event, I went home and purchased Seasons 1 and 2 on DVD so I could be caught up when it does return.

A big thank you to Bill Lawrence and everyone involved with the Cougar Town event. You now have two new fans because of your party. Let’s do it again for Season 4!

2011 has been a great year for small town television. There are shows that positively showcase small town life (Friday Night Lights, The Middle, Parks & Recreation), and there are those that accurately showcase different aspects of small town life (Justified). Not only that, but these shows represent good, quality television that people are watching and enjoying. Many have ended up in various television bloggers’ top 10 lists of 2011 shows, including the above-mentioned Friday Night Lights, Parks & Recreation, and Justified.

So I’ve decided to do a different list, that of the television characters that make these shows so great. This way I get to cheat and include the shows I enjoy multiple times.

In keeping with the blog theme, all of these characters are on small town shows (or small town-ish shows). But, if I were to include all great TV characters from 2011 there’s not many spots that would be replaced here…and my 1, 2 and 3 would certainly remain the same. Since Albuquerque, New Mexico is a big city you won’t find Walter White or Gus Fring here, but enjoy some Raylan and Boyd instead.

I somehow missed the Raising Hope season 1 bandwagon, but when I saw it show up on Netflix Instant with the description “man raises baby after one-night stand with a serial killer” I decided to give it a shot. I think my husband and I mainlined those first 22 episodes over a weekend time period and immediately signed up for season 2 on our DVR. The performance I most enjoy, besides baby Hope, is Garret Dillahunt as the dad/granddad who managed to knock up his own girlfriend (now wife Virginia) as a teenager and thus becomes a grandfather when his son does the same at age 23. Burt Chance is a family man with a hard work ethic, who just happened to also be a sex offender for said impregnation offense but is definitely NOT a Jehovah’s Witness come to convert you. Check out his Bro-Gurt coming soon to the Natesville Howdy Market.

9. Santana Lopez on Glee

“The only straight I am is straight-up bitch.” – Santana Lopez

I don’t love Glee, and oftentimes I don’t even like Glee. But as much as I fault the show for its myriad of problems (both character-based and ridiculous plot-based), I do quite enjoy the character of Santana Lopez, played by Naya Rivera. While the character of Kurt has been more open with his sexuality, this season Glee focused on Santana coming to terms with and opening up about hers. The episode where her sexuality was to be revealed by a pizza chain owner’s television ad because of something Finn said in school was great (if not a convoluted way to get there). Then the episode that was supposed to show Santana actually coming out to the people in her life fell flat; her parents were okay with it but we didn’t see that because it happened off screen, and her grandmother was thrown in as someone new to at first be like “oh, how cute, look at the little old lady,” and then immediately twist the knife and reveal that abuelita is a homophobe who thinks Santana should keep her sexuality to herself. But even though all that muck, Santana was still a character whose outcome I cared about, and who is one of the bright spots on an uneven show.

8. Becky Sproles on Friday Night Lights

Luke, I want to start over, XO Becky

Becky is a character I greatly disliked at first. I didn’t like her pageants, I didn’t like her relationship with Tim, and I didn’t like the way she presented herself. She was this whiny little girl with a huge crush on Tim Riggins, for seemingly no other reason than he paid attention to her. When Luke was crushing on her, she was distant with him. Then, she got pregnant and that’s when I started to see the heart underneath the pageant exterior. For me Becky shot from unlikeable to FNL MVP almost immediately. I had long thought Becky’s unyielding focus on Tim was selfish, and yet I saw her abortion as completely selfless. Becky had always been reminded by her own mother what a mistake she was, and she didn’t want to go down that same path with a child she was not ready to care for. One of the many things I loved about FNL was its realistic presentation of teenagers, and the growth Becky exhibited from season 4 to season 5 was both realistic and poignant. Becky Sproles FTW.

7. Dr. Tara Knowles on Sons of Anarchy

“He’s mine.” – Tara Knowles

There were only two possible paths for Tara in season 4 of Sons of Anarchy – keep the good doctor on the straight and narrow and written right off of the show, or become the Queen of SAMCRO. Maggie Siff does an amazing job portraying Tara and seeing her darker side will only bring good things to this character in season 5. Her performance alone in the two-part season finale ranged from sadness and grief at what she is losing (Oregon), to manipulation for what she would not lose (Jax), to assassin helper (“and this is how you do it.”), to her final transformation as Gemma 2.0, leaving lots to look forward to from this character in 2012.

6. Dillon, Texas on Friday Night Lights

Throughout Friday Night Lights’ five season run, supporting characters came and went, but Dillon was a constant, and was as important to the series as any character, large or small, was. I was immediately drawn to this show, and to Dillon, for its stunning realism and accurate portrayal of a small town. The producers didn’t try and recreate small town Texas in big city California, but instead the cast, crew and producers spent five years of their life living in and around Austin, Texas where the show was filmed on location. This added depth to the show made me love Dillon even more, because the terrain was real and true to the fictional place where the show took place. So much of my attraction to this show was personal, and indeed I did see a lot of my own small town in Dillon (though mine was much, much smaller); one of the two restaurants was an ice cream shop that could have been a stand-in for the Alamo Freeze, sports was a huge back-drop to the town, and the economical struggles of the residents mirrored very much as in Dillon. I will miss the show FNL, and I will miss the characters, but anytime I get home sick I can put in one of my DVDs (or find it on Netflix Instant) and be taken back via Dillon.

5. Leslie Knope on Parks &Recreation

“The only thing I’m guilty of is loving Pawnee.” – Leslie Knope

What can one say about the most highly caffeinated (or other upper-stimulated) character on television? Leslie is the workaholic Deputy Director of the Pawnee, Indiana’s Parks Department. Leslie is charming and tenacious, if not at times mildly irritating. And I’m not much of a ‘shipper for any TV show, but her relationship with Ben has unfolded beautifully in a way that works for each of those characters. Leslie is one of my favorite female characters on television because she doesn’t apologize for who she is, and she owns up to her flaws, as we saw when she had her ethics trial and began to see that what she had done maybe did cross some lines. She wanted to make amends not to help her campaign, but because that is who Leslie Knope is.

4. Sue Heck on The Middle

“Sue Heck does not give up.” – Sue Heck

Sue Heck above Leslie Knope? Let’s go with this logic…in my imaginary high school I believe Leslie Knope was once just like Sue Heck. Which came first, the teen with the drive and desire to be a part of everything but without the social skills to do it, or the adult with the same drive and desire who has turned social awkwardness into a winning formula?

I love Sue, and not just because I identify with her from my own high school time. Sue is a character for whom nothing goes right, but who never sees that as wrong. Eden Sher plays this character out of the realm of caricature and into a real teenager who wants all that she does and doesn’t understand what is holding her back. She even only has a birthday once every four years (she was born leap day, Feb. 29, 1996). Sue is the epitome of optimism both on this show and on television in general, and her desire to be a part of something without compromising who she is is not needy but rather refreshing.

Sue’s drive and passion lead to hilarious and heartwarming encounters with her friends (or friend, Carly) and her family. And whenever Sue’s around, there’s always a chance of a Reverend Tim Tom sighting!

3. Raylan Givens & Boyd Crowder on Justified

“I was wondering if back when we were digging coal together that you had an inkling of the man that I might someday become.” – Boyd Crowder

“You mean just 40 and still single?” – Raylan Givens

I could have included these two separately, as they are both quality and stand-out characters in their own right, but it’s when Raylan and Boyd are together that they soar.

Rayland is the law man and Boyd is the criminal, but wow are there ever times when the lines between these two cross something fierce. Boyd was supposed to die in the pilot episode but was saved that fate because there was so much rich story between him and Raylan to tell. Who saved Raylan from Dickie’s bat in the season 2 ender? Boyd. Who assisted Raylan in the season 1 ender shoot-out? Boyd. Who uttered this line in that same episode to Raylan: “No, Raylan, I’m gonna bet my life on you being the only friend I have left in this world.” Boyd. And who are the two characters prominently featured together in the season 3 Justified promos? Yes, Raylan and Boyd.

Here are the last 90 seconds of season 1, featuring the beautiful song “You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive,” sung here by Brad Paisley.

And who will be turned into FX on January 17 as the new season premieres? This gal. I suggest you do the same.

2. Coach Taylor and Tami Taylor on Friday Night Lights

“It’s my turn, babe. I have loved you and you have loved me and we have compromised, both of us, for your job. And now it’s time to talk about doing that for my job.” – Tami Taylor

And the Emmy goes to…Kyle Chandler. That’s one of my favorite TV lines from 2011, due to the much deserved and long-overdue recognition for one of the most realistic performances and characters to grace our television screens. If only Connie Britton had gotten the same recognition (because it certainly isn’t coming for American Horror Story).

Much like Raylan and Boyd, you can’t have Coach without Mrs. Coach. Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton portrayed for five seasons the most realistic television marriage ever. Yes, ever. They supported each other, they challenged each other, and in the end they chose each other over Dillon Panther football. Now that’s love, right?

1. Mags Bennett on Justified

“It was in the glass; it wasn’t in the jar.” – Mags Bennett

Mags, you had me at the above-referenced line. In fact, that line was my pick for top TV line of 2011, just as you are my pick for top TV character (small town or not). You were such a force to be reckoned with on Justified’s season 2, and your season ender was how Sons of Anarchy should have done theirs. Margo Martindale’s Emmy win for Best Supporting Actress was as delightful as Kyle Chandler winning his, and I would watch the shit out of a show featuring only the Bennett clan’s back story. Or, you know how The Muppets had Muppet Babies? I would watch Bennett Babies all day long. Someone, quick, make that show happen!

Mags, all you wanted was to be a good mama, but your boys never quite let you live up to that potential with all their shenanigans. As if loosing Cooter wasn’t enough, when you realized Doyle was the second of your sons to die in about as many days, your heartbreak in realizing that only Dickie remained was palpable. I strongly suspect we’ll be seeing more of Jeremy Davies’ Dickie in the new year, but I will miss you, Mags, and your special brand of apple pie.

Reporter Eric Deggans does a fine job of saying what is wrong with the presentation of rednecks on television, specifically reality television. In theory, I agree with the premise of the story – stereotypes of the South and of southern people as uneducated, toothless, bigoted, country bumpkins are very unfortunate indeed. Frankly the whole genre of reality television is one unfortunate stereotype after another, but the southern ones are especially grating for they are almost taken as fact, rather than as caricature.

However, in some of the titles discussed the only thing that appears to present these people as uneducated is the fact that they have a job Mr. Deggans has never heard of and they have a southern accent.

Hillbilly Handfishing presents “noodling,” which is a type of fishing I would never do, just as I would never do the dangerous Bering Sea fishing presented on Deadliest Catch. But it is just that – a different way of fishing other than sitting on a boat waiting for a catch. My dad watches this show, and from the brief glimpses of it I got when visiting my parents’ house this summer, the guys who actually lead these “noodling” trips are pretty smart. Fishing is nothing if not an art, and putting your arm in some unknown crevice to get a catfish takes that art to a whole other level. I don’t make an effort to watch this show, but I don’t think the people on it need stereotype protection anymore than anyone else on a reality show does.

Another show Mr. Deggans used in his examples of “awful” southern stereotypes is Rocket City Rednecks, a show literally about rocket scientists and/or others who have many advanced degrees who just also happen to have a southern accent. Here’s a clip of them using moonshine to launch a rocket.

Things you will notice in this clip:

Southern accent – yes

Moonshine – yes

Rural area – yes

Intelligence – yes

Uneducated country bumpkins – no

But what does Mr. Deggans say about them? “Even when these guys have Ph.D.s in aerospace engineering, the show makes them sound like extras in a Hee Haw skit.” (aka their regular accent which does not appear to be played up at all but apparently even makes rocket scientists dumb).

As with all reality television shows, these people signed up to be on these shows and thus have a say (or at least have an opportunity with their actions) to affect how they are perceived. I have to wonder how the Rocket City Rednecks feel they are portrayed.

But then Mr. Deggan’s argument changes to not being so much against redneck stereotypes as he is just against rednecks in general. I was especially irritated by this line:

”These shows give you a South with no people of color, and they weirdly lack contact with sophisticated southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas; I guess it’s tough to play the bumpkin card when you’re looking at skyscrapers and a booming technology corridor.”

What I took from this is only “sophisticated southern cities” are worth talking about when you feature the South, because rural areas do not have booming technology corridors or skyscrapers. I believe there are already several shows about “sophisticated” Dallas – let’s see there is Most Eligible: Dallas, and also The A-List: Dallas, don’t forget Big Rich Texas, and of course Dallas Divas and Daughters, oh and one more Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team. Now granted all I know of any of these shows is what I see on the clip show The Soup but I don’t think any of them feature booming technology corridors. The skyscrapers, though, probably do make an appearance.

Now, I know I’m taking too much out on NPR and Mr. Deggans here. Overall I’m thrilled that a major “cultural” media outlet would give time to such a story. In a time when we have shifted away from un-politically correct ethnic/race/religion/gender stereotypes, regional stereotypes, and in particular the Southern backwoods bumpkin stereotype is one of the few that remain culturally acceptable. But what could have been a frank discussion about southern media stereotypes instead turned out to be an effort to divert your attention elsewhere – “hey why don’t you leave those country folk alone and come look at our nice cities,” – thus, validating the stereotypes that they initially were saying are bad.

Oh, and a real thing of beauty – NPR placed this story on their website and allowed people to comment on it, but it took almost all day for them to realize that the reason so many comments were being blocked was because they had listed “redneck” as a bad word in their blockage dictionary.

I am a huge supporter of NPR and this won’t change that at all, but I think they really missed a great opportunity here and clearly it ruffled my feathers. I don’t buy into the NPR left-leaning bashing and I think they are the most balanced of any coverage you’re likely to find anywhere, but even the most ardent NPR supporter can have a real “wtf?” moment with one of their stories.

Let me leave you with Mr. Deegan’s closing line: “Despite reality TV’s tendency to stupefy everything it touches, perhaps it’s time for these programs to actually get real and give us a vision of Southern culture that reaches beyond the fun-loving redneck.”

This is the stuff stereotypes are made of folks, and NPR bought right into it today.

Many times, when small towns are presented on television, it is with the caveat of the characters that we may live here now, but we either ended up here due to circumstances beyond our control or we’re getting out as soon as something better comes along. Many shows are based around the idea that main characters in small town shows don’t like living in their towns. These characters are either put in the town in a Doc Hollywood sort of way (and why are they always doctors?) or are teenagers who have big dreams that don’t include staying in their one-horse town and working at the local school/tire shop/Alamo Freeze/strip club, or are adults who stayed for one reason or another still harboring the dreams of their teenage years.

Let’s look at some examples:

Doc Hollywood small screen style –

“I will under no condition, NO condition, spend the best years of my life in the worst place on Earth!” – Dr. Joel Fleischman, Northern Exposure

the story: big city doctor ends up being sent to small town against their will; meets and interacts with colorful local characters; usually ends up with a love interest in the town; against their better judgment falls in love with the town and the town them; eventually gets called away and has to make the tough choice to stay or go

why this works: a set-up like this really allows the town to shine through, because you the viewer are experiencing it at the same time the main character is. Even though the main character may not enjoy everything they are seeing, it is effective world-building that would take longer in a show where the town is already established. And since these shows usually send doctors in as the fish-out-of-water, you get to meet, along with the main character, most of the town folk and their various ailments as well. Nothing says hello like treating a Native American medicine man who’s trying to be seen on the sly.

what’s wrong with this formula: many times when setting up a main character in a situation like this, they are made to be so unlikable at first that it’s hard to turn them around. How much of a dick did Dr. Fleischman act like when he first got to Cicely (see above quote)? Sure, the supporting characters were great, but the lead character needed time to fit in with the world-building that had been so well done. The other problem with this formula is skirting not going too far into stereotypes of either the fish or the water. Northern Exposure hit a fine balance of introducing Dr. Fleischman and his idiosyncrasies, and doing the same with Cicely. On Hart of Dixie, I’ve seen it struggle to do the same, to not go too far down the “oh my gosh this is the South isn’t it all so cute” angle and the “who is this lady from New York City and who does she think she is” angle.

I’m a teenager get me out of here –

the characters: Rachel & Kurt on Glee

the story: teenager growing up in small town can’t wait until they’re an adult and can go out and explore the world all on their old. There is so much to see and do and none of it is in their crappy little town. Oh my gosh, just look at the world, they’re going to conquer it ALL!

why this works: this is a typical teenage reaction no matter where you are living – small town or big city. It is more often seen as a teen in a small town because the teens in the big city already know what else is out there, and they may be more hardened about conquering it. But small town teens carry a lot of enthusiasm with them, and it’s one of the things I’ve enjoyed watching with the Rachel & Kurt New York City dreams on Glee. I have a lot of issues with that show, but I think they are pretty realistic in presenting these two kids who in their own town/school have always been praised, and now they are faced with the reality that they have to work harder and smarter to reach their goals. But that also leads me to what’s wrong with this formula…

what’s wrong with this formula: if the kid leaves, and they’re not getting a spin-off, you’ve just lost a character on your TV show (but if it’s a teenager, maybe that’s not such a bad thing). The biggest issue I have with this formula is that there are entire shows dedicated to what happens when one of these kids gets to the big city, and most of them work well on their own. Exploring what a teenager hopes and dreams is one thing, but you still have to move the story forward, and the only way to see a teenage dream through on a small town show and keep your cast in tact is to have something big, bad and/or horrible happen to them in the big city, and they come running back to the small town. In doing so you’ve destroyed everything your characters have been building toward.

the story: usually these are also teenagers, but can be adults too. Nevertheless, they once had dreams, great dreams, but circumstances got in their way. They don’t necessarily hate their small town, but they thought about getting out, maybe just for a little while before coming back to town to settle down and start a family.

why this works: because it is real…these teenagers may not have had quite the zeal of the “I’m a teenager get me out of here” kids, but they were able to see past the town lines and out into something different. They were also able to see, either through experience or circumstance, that things aren’t that bad inside their town either. When Friday Night Lights ended with Tim Riggins finally building on his land, we weren’t sad for Tim, but rather celebrated his growth and accomplishments and what staying in Dillon meant for him, and for Dillon. On the flip side, with both the Finn storyline on Glee and Luke Cafferty’s on FNL, their circumstances were more tragic. It appears that Finn is not good enough for a college football scholarship, and Luke was beset by injury and recruiters going after his best friend instead of him. While the Finn storyline has not fully played out, for Luke he made the best decision for himself and the family he hopes to build with Becky.

what’s wrong with this formula: honestly, not much. I’d say this is one of the most real situations to be faced in the real world, and if it can be well done on television it’s giving a voice to anyone who has experienced it. I’d say for a small town show the only slippery slope this can get into is antagonism toward the town, but that is almost necessary to add layers to the town characters.

the story: these are usually the general townspeople, but can occasionally be other characters who we come to know and love and who love their town. They’re happy there and they don’t plan on leaving (maybe they did at one point but not anymore).

why this works: I use the character of Becky Sproles as an example here to show how a teenager can be beautifully written and acted and not fall into one of the other categories. Becky didn’t have big city dreams, but that didn’t mean she had no dreams, or that she had no depth as a character. Becky is a character who should not have felt at home in Dillon; she had more unconventional living arrangements than anyone else on the show, but within them she created a community that was about more than what to do after Dillon, it was about how to take your dreams and build them in Dillon. Same thing with Maggie on Northern Exposure, certain circumstances brought her to Cicely and once she was there she wasn’t leaving. Again, this character did not lack depth, but was able to balance out Dr. Fleischman who wanted to get away as quickly as possible.

what’s wrong with this formula: there could be a tendency to write caricatures instead of characters here, but often that is not the case. Much like the previous category, these characters can be a strong presence on a television show and one that balance out other characters.

What do you think of small town shows and how they portray the idea of staying or leaving? Full confession, when I was a teenager I was a classic “I’m a teenager, get me out of here” and probably would have been just as annoying as Rachel and Kurt, but hey, at least I wasn’t on television!

There are different types of small towns, both in the world and on television. Just like it’s not accurate for me to compare my very small 1,000 people town to a somewhat bigger, but still small in the grand scheme of things other town, I’ve come up with some different ways television presents small towns.

The tried and true this is a real small town feel / small town as a central character – here I have to place the most accurate representation of a small town ever, Friday Night Lights, first and foremost. I fell in love with Friday Night Lights from the pilot because it really captured everything that is and that represents a small town. You’re going to hear me talk about FNL a LOT, and that’s not a bad thing. If you’re not familiar with it, get thee to Netflix immediately; the entire series is available on instant streaming. But other shows fit this category too – the other one that comes to mind is Northern Exposure. In this category are shows where the small town is just as central a character to the action as the human characters are. A Friday Night Lights not in Dillon? Well, they didn’t dare go there until the series finale and even now that there’s talk of a movie of the TV series based on a movie based on a book, the action is most likely to take place in Dillon again. And Cicely, Alaska? Well it was just as important to the story as DJ Chris and Dr. Joel Fleischman. There’s just no KBHR 570 AM without Cicely. These are the shows that get it right. I’ve gone back and forth whether to put Harlan in Justified in category one or category two, and dare I say Mayberry, North Carolina and The Andy Griffith Show also deserves a spot in this category.

The pretty close to a small town feel / small town as a secondary character – I also call this the “yes I’m set in a small town and yes my town is important but I’m maybe not 100% authentic” feel – sorry, Parks & Recreation, but I’m putting Pawnee here. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love Parks & Rec but it’s not because I look at Pawnee and go “yeah, that’s totally what would happen, people quit their jobs and try and build entertainment empires every day”, it’s for its central characters and storylines. But, Pawnee remains an important character all its own, just not as much so as say Dillon or Cicely. In this category are shows where the small town is still a character (versus a backdrop) but more in a supporting role than a co-starring role. Let’s also list Charming, Calif. in Sons of Anarchy and Stuckeyville, Ohio in Ed here too.

The “maybe I’m not really sure where you take place but you’ve built or have a small town-like community” feel / small town as a backdrop and not a character – Greg Garcia has got this one down – I mentioned in my first post that although the viewer is not really sure where Raising Hope takes place, chances are it’s an outlying area of a big city, probably somewhere outside of Los Angeles. But, the characters have built their own small town within the show and it really functions as a backdrop to the action around them. Part of me really wishes that the action in Raising Hope is in Camden County, the setting for another Greg Garcia show My Name is Earl. In this category are shows where the small town remains important, but it functions as a backdrop and not a character. The rural Vermont town housing the Stratford Inn on Newhart is another great example here. I don’t think they ever told us what the town was, but it was an important backdrop nonetheless because it created a sense of community on the show. I’d also say Roseanne goes here; Langford, Ill. was important, but it wasn’t a central character, it was a place where the Connors lived.

The “yeah I take place in a small town but I could really take place anywhere” feel / small town as an afterthought – I feel this category is especially reserved for soap operas. Genoa City, Wisconsin; Pine Valley and Port Charles, Pennsylvania; Llanview, New York, they all function as places for people to be all sleeping around and up in each other’s business and stuff…oh wait, that’s a lot of peoples’ stereotype of a small town, so maybe it does make sense these shows take place there. I am most familiar with Genoa City, having been a faithful teenage viewer of The Young and the Restless, and as a general rule they did cover off that when something requiring extra services or whatnot needed to be done, they went to Chicago to do it. But Genoa City wasn’t a character, nor was it really even a backdrop, it was just a name of a town that could have been anywhere or featured anything.

What do you think of the four types of small towns presented on television? Are there any that are missing? Any shows/towns in the wrong category? There are further ways to look at each of these categories, but this is meant to be a broad stroke to capture the different types and start the conversation. Now hit me up in the comments and let’s discuss!

I grew up in a small town. That’s probably obvious from the title and focus of the blog, but I wanted to outright state it as I have a very real and personal connection to how small towns are portrayed in the media. I live outside of Los Angeles now, but my roots are and always will be in my still-no-stoplight hometown.

Growing up in Kentucky, we were a mixture of Midwest and Southern values & cultures, and this has also shaped how I see these portrayals on television and in other media. I hate the word “hillbilly” and I usually cringe at the way people south of the Mason/Dixon line are portrayed on television. There are a lot of examples of this being done wrong, and some great examples of it done right. Let’s have a conversation here about each of them.

I’m a voracious consumer of television and other media, and I read many television blogs which are extremely well done and which I will not try to replicate here. When I first started thinking of this blog, I wanted to call it Blue Collar TV to focus more on the portrayal of blue collar workers & working families, which I don’t often see done on other television blogs. But then I found out that Blue Collar TV is the name of a Jeff Foxworthy television show. Since I see him as one of the reasons for the poor representation of blue collar, Southern, and small town life on television, I went in a different direction. I considered focusing on economic realities presented in television, but very few shows present a true economic reality and the ones that do usually fall into the small town / blue collar / working family categories as well. A snide hello to you, larger-than-life apartments, unrealistic disposable income, and Brooklyn backyards with horses (I’m looking at you on this one, 2 Broke Girls). And a shout-out Roseanne season 1, episode 2 for the great bill-swapping technique more relevant today than maybe even when it was written. There will be posts about this topic, but I broadened the focus of the blog.

For the purposes of the blog, I’ve had to expand my definition of a small town to include what I would have felt were “big” cities growing up, but it’s all a matter of perspective. My town was a small farming community of 1,000 people in Kentucky. To childhood me, Pawnee, Ind. would have been a “big” city. I see now that clearly it is not. But a small town can also be a close-knit community in a big city. Take Raising Hope – we don’t actually know where it takes place, but my guess is one of the valley communities surrounding Los Angeles. But the show has a small town feel, and explores working families, so we’ll talk about it here.

So here’s what this blog is…

A conversation about television shows with a focus on small town life, working families or blue collar workers, and/or close-knit communities that function as a small town. I mentioned the South earlier; sometimes these shows will take place in the South, sometimes they won’t. I brought it up because it’s where my perspective comes from, but there are plenty of small towns elsewhere.

Discussions on what is done right and what is done wrong in television’s portrayal of these topics.

Discussions on small town portrayals in past and present shows and what we should be looking for in future shows.

What this blog is not…

An episode-by-episode recap of shows – there are plenty of sites that get this right, and you’ll find a few of them in the links here. Not to say that an episodic review will never occur, but it won’t be the norm.

What shows will be discussed?

There are small towns or small town-like communities depicted in television comedies, dramas, animated shows, movies, reality shows, soap operas, and the news/newsmagazines. I want to talk about the ones that do it well (Friday Night Lights being number one), the ones that come close but aren’t quite there yet, and phenomenon related to small town depictions on the small screen (for example, why a small town contestant is more likely to win American Idol than a big city one).

Here’s some of the shows I’m interested in starting out with. Please comment and let me know your thoughts, or what you’d like to see added. Just a note, the blog is starting out with one writer, so the shows I’m listing are ones I’ve watched and are familiar with the characters and landscape (thus, no Gilmore Girls…yet). But I hope to be adding guest writers or even a permanent co-writer in the near future, so if your favorite small town show is not listed right now, it doesn’t mean it will be ignored.

Okay, that’s enough to get us started. Please comment and let me know your thoughts, and if you like what you’ve read spread the word about the blog. I have lots of ideas and lots of excitement about getting this going and I want to hear from you. Are you from a small town too? Do you prefer small town or big city television (or do you even care)? What do you think about small town depictions on television? What stereotypes do you see that show runners and writers need to let go? What things are they missing and what are they getting right? Let’s talk in the comments section!